Flattening Glued Up Panels

[LeftyTom]

I have glued up some more panels, with better results than my first go at it (Thanks again, Jay Brewer). These panels have one or two spots on the glue seams that are .030 and .040 inch off (higher or lower, depends on how you think about it).

There are no gobs of dried glue visible, but the panels are too wide for my planer. :help: The panels are 14" x 18" and 20" x 30"

Should I sand these spots flat, or plane them? Mind you, I only have a Stanley plane I bought at the BORG, and it has a chip in one corner of the iron. I do have tool money, but do not suggest a Lie-Nielsen plane. :eusa_naug

 

[Bas]

1) Belt sander followed by Random Orbit Sander
2) Find someone with a wide belt sander or drum sander and bring a six-pack of beer

Flattening a panel by hand is definitely feasible, but requires a good plane that's a. sharp, b. tuned, and c. in the hands of an experienced operator. When you say "Stanley plane", do you mean a Jack plane or a block plane?

 

[Dragon]

Do you have a router? Building up a router sled is more time and engineering than money and you're welcome to peruse my gallery to look at my set up. They don't have to be fancy just functional.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f31/router-sled-28921/?highlight=router+sled

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/f29/another-router-sled-29595/?highlight=router+sled

Just a couple ideas for you.

 

[Travis Porter]

Belt sanding will work, and I did it for many years. I would go diagonally to level the surface and then go with the grain at finer grits say up to 150 and then go to a ROS.

A hand plane is the way to go, but you are not going to get very far with an untuned Stanley. Putting a new Hock blade in it will make a substantial difference.

If all else fails, come to Wake Forest and you can wide belt, hand plane, or regular belt sand it in my shop.

 

[tjgreen]

1) Belt sander followed by Random Orbit Sander
2) Find someone with a wide belt sander or drum sander and bring a six-pack of beer

Flattening a panel by hand is definitely feasible, but requires a good plane that's a. sharp, b. tuned, and c. in the hands of an experienced operator. When you say "Stanley plane", do you mean a Jack plane or a block plane?

+1 for #2. Has the benefit of getting to meet a fellow NCWW. I've done it with a belt/random orbital, takes awhile and I can always pick out the spots where I've done it that way.

Probably wouldn't use this as a way to learn how to use a hand plane. I'm trying to learn that now, sometimes you just make it worse.

 

[Mike Davis]

Bring your panels and your plane up to my place Saturday or Sunday. We'll turn your plane, plane your panels and I'll show you how to make flat panels so you don't have to do all that extra work.

 

[thrytis]

If you want to go the cheap route, a Microplane sanding disc on your ROS will level it out fairly fast. They remove material a lot faster than the equivalent grit in sand paper. It has been a little while, but i think i mostly used the medium to level and switched to sand paper to smooth it out. The coarse is very aggressive. I don't think Microplane still makes them, but you can still buy them a lot of places (search froogle.com for "microplane disc").

 

[4yanks]

Use a card scraper. Work the high spot down and feather out from there so as not to create a noticeable depression in the panel. A card scraper is cheap and can even be made from an old handsaw blade (Please not an antique!). Good luck.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

There are no gobs of dried glue visible, but the panels are too wide for my planer. :help: The panels are 14" x 18" and 20" x 30"

Tom: if you decide to go the wide-belt sander route, and can't find anyone closer, you're welcome to bring them to my shop. I'm just north of Liberty, NC, in the northeast corner of Randolph county. My sander can handle both your panels. Just give me a heads-up and we can figure out a date.

Question: did you use biscuits to join the boards? If so, I'd wait a couple of weeks before doing anything to flatten the panels.

Bill

 

[Travis Porter]

Use a card scraper. Work the high spot down and feather out from there so as not to create a noticeable depression in the panel. A card scraper is cheap and can even be made from an old handsaw blade (Please not an antique!). Good luck.

That is an excellent suggestion. :icon_thum It is amazing how well a card scraper works.

 

[Tarhead]

If you just did the glue up, let them sit for a few days and see if the ridge is swelling from the water in the glue. Level it now and the ridges become ruts if they're not dry. If they're dry lot's of good options above.

 

[LeftyTom]

Bas, I have a bench plane. I enjoy a challenge, but even I will not plane a panel with a block plane!

What does the group think of this gizmo?
http://woodhaven.com/Woodhaven-3002-39-Planing-Sled/M/B002UZAVG6.htm

 

[Dragon]

Bas, I have a bench plane. I enjoy a challenge, but even I will not plane a panel with a block plane!

What does the group think of this gizmo?
http://woodhaven.com/Woodhaven-3002-39-Planing-Sled/M/B002UZAVG6.htm

The "gizmo" is probably pretty good but you can build/make one a LOT cheaper. A little plywood or plexi glass, some steel angle, a few screws and nuts to hold it all together........not hard to do. In total in both of my current sleds I might have $20 invested.

 

[Bill Clemmons]

As David said, you can make one a lot cheaper that works just as well. It's not hard. Years ago I flattened my work bench using a couple lengths of angle iron and some straight boards attached to the sides of the bench. It worked great, and cheap. But for just two panels, it still might be easier to find someone with a wide belt sander. If you expect to be doing this a lot in the future, then I'd go ahead and make a sled.

Bill

 

[Mike Davis]

Or learn to make flat panels without all that extra work. :dontknow:

 

[magellan44]

I think hooking up with Mike Davis is a good bet and a good chance to learn a great deal.....Never turn down a chance to learn from one that offers to help....

 

[mikeacg]

Or talk to one of use CNC router guys and get flat panels done without any work! Sorry Mike! I couldn't resist!
I've used a sled in the past and had good results.

 

[cpowell]

Use a card scraper. Work the high spot down and feather out from there so as not to create a noticeable depression in the panel. A card scraper is cheap and can even be made from an old handsaw blade (Please not an antique!). Good luck.

That is an excellent suggestion. :icon_thum It is amazing how well a card scraper works.

+2 on the card scraper. I flattened my DR table top with a scraper and it goes pretty fast.


Chuck

 

[Mike Davis]

Or talk to one of use CNC router guys and get flat panels done without any work! Sorry Mike! I couldn't resist!
I've used a sled in the past and had good results.

That's OK, if you got it use it! Out where I live we have learned not to depend too much on electricity.

I would love to have cnc for wood and metal, lathes and router tables. I'm sure my production would increase dramatically. But, then it would have to increase to cover the costs.

 

[mikeacg]

Mike,

In the past I've always had a fulltime job to pay for my hobbies. Now that I am unemployed I'm learning about the other side of things. This forum has helped me a lot lately (Thanks to all of you!) - but the CNC is going to have start earning its keep pretty soon!